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filipinfodump · 1 year ago

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Hi, I want to ask if you have any topics about the Philippine-American War? I have gotten myself in Philippine History and I want to know deeper. Thanks:)

I was thinking of many ways on how to answer this because this is such a large and complicated topic but I could just try to summarize some stuff here and tell you what I know and what I could find.

The Filipino-American war mainly started as Filipinos felt betrayed by their former American allies after the country was sold to them by Spain after the Spanish-American war during the Treaty of Paris of 1898 for $20 million alongside other Spanish colonies like Puerto Rico, Guam, and Cuba (American Historical Association, n.d.). This feeling of betrayal had come from the fact that the leader and dictator president of the Filipino revolutionaries, Emilio Aguinaldo of the Kataastaasang Kagalang-galang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (en. The Supreme and Honorable Association of the Children of the Nation) or the Katipunan for short, actually sought assistance from the Americans in Hong Kong during the Filipino Revolutionary War against Spain which was happening at the same time (Kedmey, 2013). This is why tensions were so high with the Americans when they first formally colonized the Philippines.

Interestingly, the purchase also included some territories that weren't actually part of Spanish rule such as the Sultanate of Sulu as well as some indigenous territories which led to a strained relationship with the Americans moving forward such as the independent Moros of Muslim Mindanao later being forced to assimilate to the rest of the colony of the Philippines despite previous agreements that state that they will leave them alone, mirroring the way the United States government treated Native Americans (Gowing, 1968).

Fighting between the American army and the Filipino army first broke out when on February 4, 1899 after Private William W. Grayson fired at 4 Filipino soldiers who cocked their rifles in response to them ordering the men to halt which later broke out into the Battle of Manile of 1899 (Chaput, 2012). As the Filipinos and Americans declared war on each other, the Katipuneros resorted to the mountains to start guerilla warfare against the American army (Philippine-American War, n.d.) which then lasted until 1901 when Aguinaldo was captured on March 23, 1901, just a day after Aguinaldo's birthday actually with the capture being attributed to two of his men, Lazaro Segovia and Hilario Tal Placido who betrayed him to the Americans with his other men still being too relaxed from the festivities the day before (Ocampo, 2010).

The fighting continued despite his capture and surrender until the last of the generals, General Macario Sakay, surrendered in July 14, 1906 who was then later executed along side his men on September 13, 1907 despite the initial promise of amnesty by the American government (Pangilinan & Pimintel, 2008).

The war ended the lives of 4,300 American soldiers with only 1,500 having been killed in action with the rest succumbing to diseases, while Filipino forces suffered 20,000 casualties alongside the death of 200,000 Filipino civilians due to hunger, disease, and combat (Philippine-American War, n.d.).

The violence of the situation and especially committed by the American soldiers prompted a lot of protests in the United States to stop the war immediately, as letters of the situation had been sent back to their homes which describes in excruciating detail the war crimes that these soldiers were ordered to commit such as blockading and burning down villages, extreme torture of captured and suspected enemies, and much more. The most well-known of these torture methods that I remember being taught to us in history classes as early as 4th grade was the "Water Cure" where American soldiers would force water down the victim's throat in and force them to vomit it back out. This article has a detailed account of the exact nature of this torture method as it discusses the torture of Mayor Joveniano Ealdama of Igbaras, who, although no American troop was actually hurt in his town, was tortured with his town being burnt down by the Americans the very next day (Vestal, 2017).

I do have to be honest, I was utterly shocked at how little Americans really knew about the Philippine American colonial era and by extension the Philippine-American war especially with the sheer amount of brutality the Americans had done to Filipino locals as well as the large impact the American government and American culture has had in my country and I am glad that more and more people are starting to learn more about this but it's still rather disappointing.

Videos on the Philippine-American War

If you want to learn more about the Philippine-American War, I have a couple of recommendations for videos that you can watch.

This video by Crash Course explains the origins of American Imperial idealization as well as the wars that led up to the colonization of the many territories that America acquired during this time era:

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Here's a good summary by history teacher Mr. Beat of the major aspects of the war as well as the American public's perception of it that you can watch:

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Here's a video made with a Filipino-perspective by Jonas Tayaban on the topic:

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Here's a summary in Tagalog. It doesn't have English subtitles though but it does detail more things about the build-up and the subsequent wars between Spain and America and later the Philippines and Spain and then America too:

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Movies about the Philippine-American War

I would also be remiss to not suggest some historical movies that tackle the events of this time period and especially TBA Studios' Artikulo Uno films Heneral Luna (2015) which focuses on the most popular and effective general of the revolution Gen. Antonio Luna, and Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral (2018) which focuses on Gregorio "Goyo" del Pilar, one the youngest generals of Filipino history who died a very tragic death at a young age:

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You can watch the full movie here complete with English Subtitles

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Another well-known movie about this time period is Viva Films' El Presidente (2012), although I had heard people say it's very much biased to the controversial dictator president Aguinaldo's side with many people citing that as the reason why they don't like the film.

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Here's a reupload of the full-movie. It doesn't have subtitles though.

I don't know of any American-made movies that focuses on this topic and I know there's several other films that focus more on the politics of the Katipunan and the Filipino Revolutionary War against Spain, but not necessarily the Philippine-American War so if anyone has other suggestions, please let me know.

I would also like to suggest documentaries but most of the ones I've seen are on World War II and the others are other YouTube videos by history channels that I'm not too familiar with made by mostly white American YouTubers. Not that that would disqualify their videos (I did reference both John Green and Mr. Beat here) but I don't know these history channels and their hosts enough to recommend them in good faith as of right now.

Books and Further Reading on the Philippine-American War

For books on the subject, I often reference the many writings of Ambeth Ocampo such as his Looking Back series, specifically:

Looking Back 2: Dirty Dancing (Shopee, Lazada, Amazon)

Looking Back 11: Independence x6 (Shopee, Lazada)

Looking Back 13: Guns of the Katipunan (Shopee, Lazada)

I'm also currently interested in buying some other books about the topic like The Hills of Sampaloc: The Opening Actions of the Philippine-American War, February 4-5, 1899 (Shopee, Amazon) but I don't really have any extra money to spare for it right now.

I remember that my father had some other books about this too but the names had escaped me and it's far too much work to try to sort out through his entire book pile in our house.

I hope this answer's comprehensive enough since the subject is, as I said before, quite complex and rather large so I can't really get into all the specifics right now.

References:

American Historical Association. (n.d.). How Did America Enter the Picture?. Retrieved on 3 February 2024, from https://www.historians.org/about-aha-and-membership/aha-history-and-archives/gi-roundtable-series/pamphlets/em-24-what-lies-ahead-for-the-philippines-(1945)/how-did-america-enter-the-picture

Chaput, D. (2012). Private William W Grayson's War in the Philippines, 1899. Retrieved on 3 February 2024, from https://ne-test-site8.cdc.nicusa.com/sites/ne-test-site8.cdc.nicusa.com/files/doc/publications/NH1980GraysonWar1899.pdf

Gowing, P. (1968). Muslim-American Relations in the Philippines, 1899-1929. Retrieved on 3 February 2024, from https://asj.upd.edu.ph/mediabox/archive/ASJ-06-03-1968/gowing-muslim-american%20relations%20in%20the%20philippines%201899-1920.pdf

Kedmey, D. (2013, June 13). Exiled in Hong Kong: Famous Company for Edward Snowden.Time. Retrieved on 3 February 2024, from https://world.time.com/2013/06/15/exiled-in-hong-kong-famous-company-for-edward-snowden/slide/general-emilio-aguinaldo/

Ocampo, A. (2010). Looking Back 2: Dirty Dancing. Anvil Publishing

Pangilinan, F., & Pimintel, A. (2008, September 9). A Resolution Expressing the Sense of the Senate Honoring the Sacrifice of Macario Sakay and all other Filipinos who Gave Up their Lives in the Philippine-American War for our Freedom, Senate Resolution No. 623, 14th Congress of the Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved on 3 February 2024, from http://legacy.senate.gov.ph/lisdata/83927584!.pdf

Philippine-American War. In Britannica. Retrieved on 3 February 2024, from https://www.britannica.com/event/Philippine-American-War

Vestal, A. (2017). The First Wartime Water Torture by Americans. Retrieved on 3 February 2024, from https://digitalcommons.mainelaw.maine.edu/mlr/vol69/iss1/2/

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howtotrainabraincell · 7 months ago

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May I request a blurb of Desmond’s teammates insisting he has a rest for once? (Pre or post Lucy whichever)

Of course! Hope I do it justice.

Desmond was exhausted. Utterly exhausted.

He had just experienced everything Ezio felt when he lost Cristina and the overwhelming pain and guilt and anger coursing through him was too much. Everything hurt. His head, his heart, his eyes from the forceful tears shed by the sole Auditore man, his muscles. Everything.

He knew what he had to do. The recovery of his ancestor's memories was important, and it needed to be done. But that didn't mean that it wasn't hard to go through.

Experiencing Ratonhnhaké:ton's pain when he had to watch his mother die and then watch his village get destroyed. Then having to fight his own father who refused to seek peace between the Brotherhood and the Order. Altaïr's anguish when he lost his youngest son Sef and then his wife Maria. It only went further when Altaïr was consumed by guilt for not being able to save his love, and then again when his daughter in law and granddaughters left for Egypt.

Desmond's head and heart began to hurt again just thinking about everything his ancestors had suffered through. They may have had the lives of Assassin's...but it didn't mean that they deserved to suffer.

He could hear two people in the kitchen. Rebecca and Shaun by the voices and the fact that they were the only other two people in the place. They seemed to be arguing, but Desmond's head hurt too much to try and focus on what it was they were saying.

Rebecca pointed at him her eyes narrowed. "I swear to the Isu's if you say one mean or snarky thing to him, I will slap the British out of you."

Shaun quaffed and rolled his eyes. "Am I really that bad to him?"

She looked at him pointedly without saying a word and Shaun sighed relenting. "Alright. I'll be as nice as I can.

"And don't tell him to rest up for the purpose of getting him fit to get back in the Animus. Actually, try to get him to rest. You keep pushing him the way you do, and he'll actually die, instead of just dying on the inside by being emotionally and psychologically traumatized."

The man in glasses watched as Rebecca grabbed the mug of tea she had just made for Desmond.

"Take this to him." She handed the mug off to him carefully. "Without snark."

He spoke sarcastically. "Yes mum."

Rebecca swatted at him aiming to smack his head, and Shaun barely dodged, hissing when a drop of hot water splashed on his hand.

Desmond was hunched over, his elbows on his knees as he held his head in his hands. His hair was disheveled, and his skin was pale and covered in a sheen of sweat. He had bags under his eyes and dried rings of blood around his nose, from hastily wiped away nosebleeds. It seemed as though he could barely hold himself up, and if he attempted to stand, he would fall over without assistance.

Shaun could see that the man was clearly bone tired from his interactions in the Animus.

He was going to try and be nice. He really was. Lest he be smacked by Rebecca and continue to be a complete arse to the guy who was literally the only reason why they could continue their research.

Shaun's voice was gentle. It didn't sound like him, but he was trying. Far too gentle for the snappy and grouchy man Desmond had gotten to know. "Desmond?"

Desmond looked up slowly squinting as the light hit his sensitive eyes and he was met by the scent of ginger and the sight of a coffee cup.

It was Shaun offering him a cup of tea. He reached up hesitantly wincing as his muscles protested against the action and inhaled the scent. It smelled good. Certainly, better than gunpowder, stale blood, and dirt.

The assassin didn't want to assume anything, but he thought for a moment that the British man had a look of concern on his face. He was probably seeing things. Which wouldn't be a surprise in the least.

He spoke again, once more sounding strange compared to how he normally did. "You need to rest for a while. Recover for the sake of yourself. You've been going too long without proper rest."

Desmond wanted to rebuff his statement and say that he just needed a moment before continuing. But he realized that he did need to rest. He felt like death warmed over itself and something within him told him that if he didn't...he would thoroughly regret it.

Rebecca stood a bit of a ways behind him with her arms crossed observing the both of them. "You need to Des. Seriously. We're not going anywhere. We'll be right here if you need anything."

Shaun nodded in agreement. "It's time to rest mate."

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